Filling and method of forming same



N O T O H S C FILLINGv AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Filed May 8, 1955 INVENTOR. du c SA/A m M WM ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of producing an improved form of interproximal contact in connection with amalgam fillings and to a new article of manufacture for use in such method.

Natural teeth have surfaces so shaped that they contact at a point rather than over a surface. In the production of amalgam fillings it is customary to pry adjacent teeth apart and to interpose a ribbon of copper or the like between said teeth and bend the same around the tooth being filled whereby to form a flask for retaining the plastic amalgam in place until it has been tamped. In the tamping operation the metallic ribbon tends to conform to the surface of the adjacent tooth so that when it is removed there will be formed a surface contact rather than a point contact. As a result the contacting surface is not kept clean and the enamel becomes etched and decays. It is the object of my invention to provide a simple method and means for securing a point contact whereby to overcome the difificulties noted. A more limited object is to provide an article of manufacture for use in establishing such point contacts.

With the foregoing and other and more limited objects in View, all of which will become apparent from the following description, the invention resides in the novel features and combinations of steps and combinations of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a metallic strip embodying the improved article of manufacture, Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a pair of adjacent teeth with a filling in position illustrating the result of the use of the novel method and article of manufacture.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2 the numeral N] indicates a strip of metal which may taper from one end toward the other and which is provided with a plurality of different sized spheroidal projections or contact points I I. These are made of different sizes so as to afford an assortment for use in connection with teeth of diiferent sizes. They may be of any desired sizes and any desired number of contact points or the various contact points may be provided on separate pieces of ribbon as desired. The contact points are of the same metal as the body of the ribbon and preferably are composed of the same metal which is ground or powdered to make the amalgam for the filling itself. Desirably a plurality of contact points may be furnished to the dentist in the same package with his amalgam powder and may be composed of identical material. The material need not be exactly the same as the amalgam powder but must be capable of being amalgamated by contact with the freshly made amalgam filling.

In making a filling in accordance with my improved method, the cavity is prepared in the usual manner and the metallic ribbon forming the flask is positioned in the same way after which the amalgam powder is mixed with mercury in the usual manner and placed in position, the edge of the filling opposite an adjacent tooth extending toward said adjacent tooth a distance slightly short of a predetermined desirable distance. As soon as the filling l2 has been tamped into place the band forming flask is removed and the section of the ribbon l0 having one of the contact points thereon will be placed in position as indicated at IS in Fig. 3. The free mercury in the filling will immediately amalgamate the metal in the surface of the fillet l3 and a permanent bond will be formed along the contact line Hi. The fillet I 3 will then be to all intents and purposes a part of the filling l2 and may be scraped away around the edges in the same manner as if it were a part thereof. It is not, however, convenient or necessary to p01- ish the contact surface since the entire lower surface of the ribbon H! as seen in Fig. 2 will preferably be highly polished in the process of preparing the same for market.' It will thus be necessary only to polish those parts of the filling which can be reached conveniently and the result Will be a highly polished contact point which actually contacts the adjacent tooth at a single point. 7

From the foregoing it will be obvious that I have provided a method and article which are well adapted to their intended purpose and while I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention I wish it understood that I am not limited except in accordance with the appended claims and the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a fillet having thereon a preformed projection adapted to form a restricted contact and the surface of said fillet opposite said projection being composed of material capable of being amalgamated by contact with a freshly formed amalgam filling to an extent sufiicient to form a permanent bond therewith.

2. As' a new article of manufacture, a fillet having thereon a preformed, polished projection adapted to form a restricted contact surface and the surface of said fillet opposite said projection being composed of material capable of being amalgamated by contact with a freshly formed amalgam filling to an extent suflicient to form a permanent bond therewith.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a fillet having thereon a preformed, spheroidal contact 10 surface and being composed of material capable of being amalgamated by contact with a freshly formed amalgam filling to an extent sufficient to form a permanent bond therewith.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a fillet having thereon a preformed, polished, spheroidal contact surface and being composed of material capable of being amalgamated by contact with a freshly formed amalgam filling to an extent suflicient to form a permanent bond therewith.

JOHN C. SHOTION. 

